Fluidized beds comprising magnetic particles are often used to drive high temperature chemical reactions. In order to produce a fluidized bed that contains magnetic particles, the magnetic particles are disposed upon a substrate and then sintered together. During the sintering process however, the particles that form the substrate fuse together to produce a clump of a metal oxide that has a very low surface area and that can no longer be fluidized. The FIG. 1 illustrates the sintering process. In the FIG. 1, it can be seen that powder particles that have magnetic particles disposed thereon are sintered and fuse together to form a clump of a metal oxide that has a very low surface area. This low surface area clump of metal oxide is unsuitable for supporting chemical reactions and cannot be fluidized.
It is therefore desirable to develop methods for manufacturing monolithic beds that have a high porosity and surface area, and that can function in a manner similar to fluidized beds. It is desirable for the monolithic solid bed section to be used for conducting chemical reactions.